Staying in the game

[Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( For anyone who believes Donald Trump is a spent force after his Senate impeachment trial, as one of his fellow New Yorkers might say: fuhgeddaboudit. Within hours of his acquittal, two of the [seven]( Republican senators who voted to convict him for inciting the Jan. 6 rampage in the U.S. capitol were facing [censure]( by their state parties. There’s now a no-holds battle for control of the GOP between its populist and establishment wings. Trump, who has suggested he might run for president in 2024, is itching for revenge against those who crossed him, [Jennifer A. Dlouhy]( and [Mike Dorning]( report. And even though he’s blocked from most social media, he can probably turn out voters on behalf of his loyalists in the 2022 midterm elections. Trump still enjoys substantial support. A Pew poll taken after the attack showed that 57% of Republican or Republican-leaning voters want him to remain a major political figure. If that percentage falls and a majority of Republicans start to view him as too toxic, he has some options: form his own party, set up a Trump network to take on Fox News or even a Trump rival to Twitter. Allies such as South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham see an enduring influence by Trump. Far from [writing him off](, “we need Trump-plus,” he said. Yet potential legal problems are looming. Beyond the probe by the Manhattan district attorney into possible fraud and tax evasion, a Georgia prosecutor has started a criminal investigation into Trump’s alleged attempts to influence the presidential vote in the state to reverse his loss to Joe Biden. It was a point made by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell as he tried to [straddle]( the party divide. Minutes after he voted to acquit Trump, he excoriated him as “practically and morally responsible” for the insurrection and said: “He did not get away with anything — yet.” — [Karl Maier]( Trump supporters during the siege of the U.S. Capitol. Photographer: Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images Tell us how we’re doing or what we’re missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net. Global Headlines [Pressure builds]( | U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces growing calls to speed up the exit from the latest coronavirus lockdown, having achieved his target of 15 million vaccinations. While his government has been slammed for its handling of the pandemic, the U.K. has delivered one of the most successful immunization programs in the world. - More than 10% of the U.K. workforce is out of a job and is struggling to tap government benefits, exposing economic [scars]( that will remain long after Covid-19 fades. [Tightening grip]( | Myanmar’s junta strengthened its grip on power, ordering an internet blackout and making it easier for authorities to make arrests as it looks to quell protests against the Feb. 1 coup. Demonstrations continued today as tens of thousands rallied in defiance of the military, even as the regime stepped up detentions of civil servants, lawyers and other professionals. Police and soldiers stand on guard during a demonstration on Feb. 9 in Yangon. Photographer: Aung Kyaw Htet/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images [Digging in]( | Regional elections in Catalonia yesterday delivered a boost for pro-independence forces — as well as the central government in Madrid. Almost five years after a failed bid to split from Spain, the two main parties that run the regional government in Barcelona, Esquerra Republicana and Junts per Catalunya, were undiminished, taking about 50% of the vote along with a third separatist party. But Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists staged a regional comeback to place first, well ahead of their traditional Conservative rivals. - Also yesterday, ex-Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti [won snap elections]( in a result that could worsen relations with neighboring Serbia. [Food fight]( | Prime Minister Narendra Modi is no stranger to sparking public anger by pushing for reforms, but his stand-off with Indian farmers may be his toughest confrontation yet. The country needs to reshape its agricultural system and, if Modi gets it right, it could raise millions out of poverty and propel India to the forefront of global food exports. If he doesn’t, he could force tens of millions off their land and degrade the nation’s water supply, [Pratik Parija]( reports. [Climate tips]( | Bill Gates’s new book How to Avoid a Climate Disaster attempts to give others in the fight against global warming the benefit of his experience of investing in and then trying to disentangle himself from fossil fuel industries. [Akshat Rathi]( and [Dina Bass]( report on their conversation with the Microsoft co-founder ahead of his book’s release where he said he thought in the past that divesting alone isn't enough to stop climate change, especially as investors have often snapped up stakes of fossil fuel companies sold by financiers trying to make their portfolios more green. What to Watch This Week - European finance ministers hold a virtual meeting today to discuss how soon they should start phasing out [extraordinary]( fiscal support for their weakened economies. - Australia said Google and Facebook are [nearing]( agreements to pay domestic media companies for news, a sign a regulatory standoff may be softening. - New Zealand’s summer of unrestricted movement has been brought to an abrupt [halt]( by three new community cases of Covid-19. - French President Emmanuel Macron is holding talks today and tomorrow with African leaders on issues including their joint fight against Islamist militants in the Sahel region. - Biden will participate in a virtual meeting of G-7 leaders on Friday, his first as president, to discuss plans for curbing the pandemic and rebuilding the global economy. Thanks to all who responded to our pop quiz on Friday, and congratulations to Eduardo Coccaro, who was first to name China as the country that said it’s ready to provide vaccines to eastern Europe in a bid to repair relations harmed by its failure to deliver on investment promises. [And finally]( ... A push by Iceland to get Pfizer’s backing for a study on vaccines’ ability to create herd immunity has hit a snag: It has done too good a job keeping Covid-19 in check. Last year Iceland requested 500,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot to inoculate about 70% of its population by the end of March, creating a basis to study whether herd immunity can be achieved. But as contagion declined, Pfizer concluded that Iceland had too few cases to support the investigation. Customers sit at terraced tables outside restaurants and cafes in Reykjavik, Iceland. Photographer: Sigga Ella/Bloomberg   Like Balance of Power? [Get unlimited access to Bloomberg.com](, where you'll find trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters.  You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Balance of Power newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022